From: Becki Blumer Subject: Fan Fition Submission: Dragon Fire Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 15:04:46 +0000 Meredith D. Holt beckihblumer@fuse.net Dragon Fire Adult Warnings: Some Violence and Abuse "Dragon Fire" by Meredith D. Holt Hello, Its me AGAIN, I'm starting to think I'll never shut up. This is a short little story I thought up when I re-watched the fourth season. I know it doesn't fit in very well, but it is a good story. Anyway, the Nygens, a small family in the story actually came from some dolls my brother and I used to play with. Of course, we've long out grown that, but I decided to use them since they were such good characters, with a little ajustment and some trama. Thanks to my brother Eaty, for his inspiration and to Adam and Stephy Rose for their Beta reading. Any and all Questions, comments, criticisms and virtual doggy doos to beckihblumer@fuse.net. Love Always Meredith Legal Disclaimer: Everyone but Nickolas Fargains, Rimmer, Pussy Willow, Star-Furry, Dragon, Digit and Deja Wen, along with Mary Liz and Deliverance are all my characters. Every one else belongs to the infinitely wiser JMS. Peace, Love and Cheesy Puffs. Personal Disclaimer: I'm a twisted Irish Romantic, with an appetite for chaos, spreading havoc just for the hellavet. Hope you like it. Dragon Fire by Meredith D. Holt beckihblumer@fuse.net Part 1- Rimmer's Rules She was laying on her stomach in the cold attic, the winter's dusty sunlight coming through the windows and kissing her bruised skin. She tried to get up, but it hurt to bad, and besides, if she did, then Nick would hear her, and probably come up and beat her again. Her dirty mop of blonde hair fell untamed over her eyes, soaking up the tears that she silently wept. She heard a noise, and tensed in fear. Her stepmother, Scarlet, had a new boyfriend, Nick, and they were probably gonna get married. But Nick was mean, and he beat the child and her sister and her cousins. The attic door tentivly opened, and she closed her eyes, trying to play dead. But she didn't hear the harsh clopping of Nicks boots on the blood stained attic floor. Instead, the whisper of patched silk skirts and soft slippers met her welcoming ears. "Deja?" a rich voice asked her as she felt a cool cloth meet her torn skin. "Deja Wen, are you awake?" the older girl asked in fear. The six year-old groaned and tried to find her voice. She might have broken it again, screaming. "I'...m...okay...for...a....dead...girl..."Deja said as she scrunched her eyes when she felt a bit of pain where her sister, Rimmer, was applying pressure to the neck wound. Just then, they both heard the familiar clomp of Nick's boots on the old attic steps. Rimmer's eyes darted about, but there was no place to hide. Then they heard screaming. It was Furry, Deja's cousin. The attic door swung open and Nick dropped Furry unceremoniously on the cold oak floor. his eyes blazed when he saw Rimmer. The girl tried to run, but you can't go many places in an attic, and Nick was fast and...... "Rimmer!!!!" came the cries of a child curled up in her sister's arms. Rimmer shook her baby sister awake, and rocked her. Slowly, the child's cries subsided and Deja realized where she was. "Let me hold her?" Pussy Willow offered her older cousin from a few seats away. "It's okay, Willow, I've got her." Rimmer said, silently telling Willow to go to sleep. came Willow's impatient response. She was only a year younger then her 15 year-old cousin. The loudness of their mind talk roused Dragon, who was sleeping silently next to Furry and little Digit. the eight year old girl asked. Rimmer instructed the child as she messed the short brown curls. They all knew Rimmer's rules. Don't Mind-talk unless you're in trouble or you have permission, don't talk to any one, and if you do, don't say your real name, and above all, never let anybody remember you've been there. Usually, the remembering part was Dragon's job, because nobody else was strong enough to do it. Dragon conceded, Rimmer's eyes clouded as she looked at the girl with pity. The child had never known a real home, and she didn't even remember her real name. Rimmer remembered a bit about her home with her mother, where she had lived until she was eight. It had warm fires, and her mother, who loved to dance and ride horses with her and her younger sisters, Virginia and Cleo, who adored her. Rimmer almost cried when she remembered the time of grief she had when Virginia and Cleo caught Lake's Syndrome, and died. But the real heart ache was when Momma had died giving birth to Deja. A few years later, Papa remarried, this time to a lady named Scarlet. Scarlet didn't like babies or little girls, so when Papa died, she had sent the girls to live with their Aunt, Mary Elizabeth and her daughters, Furry and Digit. Then Mary Liz had died, and since nobody knew who her husband was, they had been returned, plus Furry and Digit, to Scarlet's house. And to Nick. Who kept them around for his perverted games, which usually involved hitting them. Then Willow had come. Poor Willow, she had a real nice life before Nick and Scar, (the nickname for their evil step mom). Willow's mom had been sent to a clinic, because she had Grant's Delayed fever, where she died. Willow had it too, but Scar wouldn't get it treated. The docking of the ship interrupted Rimmer's recollections as she and her 'sisters' gathered their meager possessions and scrambled for the door. The six girls in their patched up dresses and jeans made their way toward customs. Rimmer had the small bag with all their meager belongings slung over her shoulder and was herding the rest of the girls forward. They didn't have identicards, they never had. And each time they got off a ship it was the same, Dragon's time to fool the stupid normals so that they could get in and out with out any questions. "Identicard?" A tall man in a black uniform asked. Rimmer studied him, he was kinda cute, in a scruffy way, and his mind hummed noisily, but it had a distinct noise to it, all its own. Dragon clasped Furry's hand, who in turn clasped Rimmer's. Rimmer took Deja's, and Deja took Willow's, who finally took Digit's hand. Digit was a born charmer, a living doll if you'd believe it. With bright golden hair and big blue eyes, even her patched dress and uneven hair couldn't detract from her childish good looks. The girl reached into her pocket for a piece of blank filmsiplast. That's all it was, but she handed it to the man, because she knew that Dragon could make it look like a real identicard. "Let us pass." Dragon said in a quiet voice, lower than normal human perception. Of course, the officer did as instructed, and the girls passed, taking the lift down to the bottom most part of the spinning station. A place called; Down Bellow. She felt the color rising to her cheeks, and a flare of heat in her throat that spread through her body and made her head feel light. The familiar, welcome sensation she got when drinking. Rimmer happily downed the rest of the glass and reached for the bottle again. the word echoed in her mind like it was bouncing off the empty walls of a cave. she sent, her anger rising. She always got angry if you tried to stop her from drinking. It was Willow, her familiar dainty hand curled its fingers around the neck of the bottle and capped the lid back on. Rimmer complained. She shouldn't have to, after all, she was in charge. Willow's insubstantial voice was filled with concern, and a lace of fear. < This place is worse than our usual haunts.> Rimmer sent. It was true, they had pushed aside a panel to make a crawl space. It was a little tunnel, just big enough to give them a bit of room to move. Everyone but Rimmer and Willow could stand up. Willow said as she put Rimmer's bottle back in the leather sack. Rimmer asked, changing the subject. Willow responded as she plopped down next to Rimmer. Dragon scanned the Zocolo. Was anybody drunk? Those were the best people to pick, the drunk or the preoccupied. There was a Centari at the bar, his mind noisy and slurred, like water slushing in a bottle. Him. Dragon crept on quiet feet, and sent the signal to Deja. Deja immediately sprang into action, both she and Digit ran across the Zocolo near the centari, as Furry caught the drift and chased them. Dragon slipped by the Cenatri and reached for the small bag of gambling chips. Winnings. she sent to Deja, who allowed Furry to catch her. They met by the lift. Digit asked, her cracked glasses slipping off her small nose. Furry responded as she counted the money quickly, then stuffed them into the pocket of her tattered jeans. Dragon seemed far off as Deja studied her, and then swung her focus to Dragon's. She was studying two women. One was dressed in a black uniform, her hair tied back tightly, and the other wore a fitted pink robe, and was holding the hand of a small boy. The robed woman had a gray tiara thing on her head. Dragon asked. Deja asked as she turned to her cohort. Digit said as she joined their conversation. Furry grabbed Digit's hand, explaining that they had to go. Furry had to touch to MIND-talk because she wasn't very strong, so Digit told the others. Digit, Dragon and Deja glanced longingly at the women, wishing they had mothers like that, before they took the lift with Furry, and went back to their temporary home. Dragon bit by bit- "Here, there's four credits, don't loose it." Rimmer instructed Furry and the kids as she handed the credits to Furry. Dragon's pickings had rewarded the girls with four credits that they could spend on their very own. Digit practically bounced off the walls with glee. They had all decided they wanted candy. Digit skipped alongside her 'sisters' as they headed toward the lift, while she, Dragon and Deja chanted; Delenn stood in line at sweet shop, her young son David's hand held tightly in her own. Captain Susan Ivonava was in line alongside her. Susan was studying the four children ahead of them, who seemed bouncing with glee as they looked eagerly at the candies on display. The eldest girl looked at the prices with a clinical eye, and kept patting the pocket of her tattered jeans. Finally, it was the girls turn. "A medium chocolate English tart." the eldest requested. The man at the counter dutifully informed her that it would be five credits. "But the sign says four!" the girl protested as the smiles on the others' faces fell. "Sorry, its changed." the man informed her. One of the children, in a blue tattered dress that had certainly seen better days tagged at the eldest's jeans. "I'm sorry Digit, we'll come back soon, all we need is one more credit." she told the child. Digit scrunched up her face as they moved aside. Delenn felt so sorry for the children, who couldn't even afford a candy. She wondered how she would feel if that were David. "Wait!" she called out to them. Digit looked up at the woman from yesterday, her eyes shinning. "Here." Delenn thrust a credit to the man as Furry handed him the other four. The man then gave them the much wanted tart, and the eldest broke it into four pieces, dividing them up with the girls. "Thank you, madam." she said. "No trouble." Delenn said as she gave Digit a pat on the head. The girls moved off to sit by a wall and eat their well earned treasure. As they moved off, Susan heard a small voice in her head. the childish voices said. an older voice hissed. Susan looked startled at Delenn. "Susan, what is it?" Delenn asked concerned. "Those girls, they're telepaths!" Across the expanse of the Zocolo, Dragon heard Susan's statement, and pulled her companions to the lift. Furry looked fearful as she held Dragon's hand so as to wordlessly communicate with the rest. Furry hissed in their heads. the girls complained. It was the shortest that they had ever stayed in one place. They made their way to Down Below, just as a team of Security Guards made it out of the lift. As they rounded the corner, Dragon saw the danger. her young mind cried. Too late, a murder was standing there, his knife held high. As the girls slid into him, his knife clattered to the floor, cutting the last stable part of a decaying deck plate, and they all crashed down a vent. Dragon woke up in a strange room, on a strange bed, bruised and bloodied. Who had done this? Nick? No, Nick was gone. It all came crashing down on her; the security guards, the murder, the vent accident. It came with such force that she felt her mind retreat, by she forced it back out into the light. She had to find her sisters. She swung her legs over the bed, and saw her regular clothes on a bench. She slipped out of the hospital gown and pulled the ratty remains of a once green satin dress over her head. Then she took Furry's old boots and slipped them on, lacing them tight. She crept on silent feet, but stopped as she came out in the hallway. It was the pretty woman in the black uniform. Dragon felt her mind humming, less noisy then a normal's, and knew that this woman was a teep. "So, you're awake." she stated. the whisper of wind and reeds echoed in Susan's mind. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Susan yelled with both mind and voice that it reduced Dragon to tears. No body had ever said that to her before. "I'm sorry." she choked. "Its okay, here, come here." Susan said more gently this time. But Dragon stood where she was. Susan tried a different approach. "What's your name little girl?" "Dragon, and I'm not all that little." Dragon said, indignant. "Well Dragon why don't you..." Susan began, but Dragon interrupted. "Where are my sisters?!" she said, impatient. "They're in the rooms down the hall. Do you want to see them?" Susan asked, taking the girl's hand. Dragon plugged it up, so Susan's mind wouldn't touch her own. They went down the hall a bit to a room, where Dragon could plainly see the tiara woman sitting next to Digit. A handsome dark man stood near by. "Well, now that you are all here....." he began as Dragon saw Rimmer and Willow being brought in behind her. "We can get some explanations." the man finished. Michael Garibaldi had escorted the two older girls in, who had immediately rushed to Deja and Dragon's sides. "What are your names?" Garibaldi asked. "I'm Rimmer." "Pussy Willow" "My name is Starfurry." "I am Dragon." "It's Digit." "Deja Wen." they replied, one after the other. Michael looked at them with a clinical eye. "Actually, I ran background checks. Your real names please." Michael asked again. "Patrica Maria Sherwood." "Josephina Hope Difalco" "Patience Elizabeth Patson." "Dragon." "Digit" "Deja Wen." When the last three replied the same, Garibaldi began to get angry. "Those aren't your real names." he said. Dragon and the other two looked confused, and began conferring in their minds. Susan began to translate for the others. the little whispers said. "Michael, they don't know their real names. And they think you are weird." "Hey! No ease dropping. Rimmer's rules!" Deja Wen sounded upset. "I'm sorry." Susan said. Michael picked up a report, as Delenn, silent until this time began. "Why don't you tell us why you are here. On Babylon 5?" She asked Rimmer. "We are just passing through, Ma'am, we didn't do anything wrong." Rimmer said as she moved to pick Deja up. "Yeah, sure, unless smuggling through customs, pick pocketing and resisting arrest aren't wrong." Michael piped up. "Mr. Garibaldi, will you let them finish?" Delenn asked, the command in her voice firm. Michael sat back and nodded. Digit, who had been in Delenn's lap up until this time jumped in. "We were running, Mr. Gar-bald, 'cause you have to understand, well, we were in trouble and Deja almost died and then Rimmer packed late at night, and stole Scarlet's money and we went to Mars, a Proxima, and Centari and Drosi, and Narn and Minbari and..." Digit trailed off as Rimmer shot her an angry look. "Well, I can't lie, can I?" Digit asked the older girl with indigence, "Rimmer's rules, member?" "Why were you running?" Delenn asked the child as she smoothed her hair. But it was Furry, who answered. "Nick was beating us, he beat Deja so bad that she bled forever it seemed. And then he hit Willow so bad she couldn't get up for days, so then Rimmer said we had to go, and she stole money from Scarlet and we ran." "Well, now that that's out, I can let you know about the repercussions." Michael said, even as Susan vowed if he did she'd tare him apart, "The first would be to send you back to Earth and Psi Corp..." As soon as Michael said that, Susan herd the mind screams of all six of them. "Shield!" Dragon yelled, as Rimmer, Willow and Furry, scrambled behind her. Digit leapt off Delenn's lap and stood in front of Dragon, who was linking hands with Deja. Almost as soon as the two girl fingers touched a blue dome surrounded all of them. Digit focused hard, as she touched the clasped hands of Dragon and Deja. Immediately, a large, scaled dragon with fiery eyes appeared before the assembly. Susan looked on in shock. Delenn got up, and went towards it. Dragon and Digit seemed to struggle wills as Digit tried to steer it away from Delenn, even as Dragon tried to get it to lash out. The others seemed frightened by the display of force. "No Psi, No PSI, NO NO NO PSI!" the children began to chant. Delenn looked at Michael with draggers, he had scared them nearly out of their wits. All of the sudden, the blue dome seemed to falter and the dragon became smaller. Rimmer was clearly having trouble. Suddenly, it all disappeared and Willow angrily turned on Rimmer. "You're DRUNK!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the older girl, as the younger children looked on in revulsion and confusion. "I can't believe you, I asked you NOT to DRINK! And now we're gonna get shipped off to Psi Corps and its all your fault!" Willow nearly tore Rimmer's already numbed mind apart with her anger. "Quiet!" Michael yelled as he stepped in between them, "Nobody is going to the Psi Corps." Willow turned to look at him, falling to the floor where Digit and Furry ran to her side. Dragon focused her intent eyes on Ivonava's overloaded mind and tried desperately to help her re-essemble her blocks. Like Legos, she helped the older woman build the walls up and close the voices out. Susan reached out to steady herself and Dragon held out her hand. "Thanks." Susan said, as she picked Dragon up. Michael sat Rimmer down as Franklin handed her some oxy pills. She nodded her thanks to both of them. Digit's digits- Delenn, John, Susan, Michael and Stephen sat at a table in the Zocolo, discussing the future of the six children now in protective custody. "John, I would really like to adopt Digit and Furry, after all, Digit is so sweet, and Furry is after all, her sister. Plus, David, I'm sure would love some sisters." she put a hand on her husband's shoulder. "Alright, Delenn, if it means that much to you." he told her, smiling his love to her. Susan stared at her plate and asked; "Can we keep Dragon away from the Corps?" "I don't know, honestly. If she doesn't have a guardian we'll have to put her in the system and.." Michael trailed off as Susan shot him daggers. "I'll be her guardian, plus , they are all really sweet, and I'd hate to see them separated." She told him. Franklin took some already filled out adoption papers and showed them to the assembly. "These state that I am now officially Pussy Willow's guardian. The girl has already expressed an appreciation for medicine, and I'd like to teach her more." he said as Garibaldi examined the papers. "That's Franklin, always looking for an assistant." John said shaking his head. "Well," Garibaldi said. "In that case, I'll take Deja and Rimmer. I like the kid and Rimmer needs some one to help her back on her feet." Michael said. The group continued their discussion of the girl's future, even as in their room, the girl's were doing the same. "I don't want us to be very far apart." Willow, otherwise known as Jo said softly. "Me neither." said Rimmer, the girl once called Pattie. "But how, they want to take us into their homes, but they don't want all of us." Digit, or as her mother used to called her, Lydia, stressed.. "This much is true." Furry, or Patience, pointed out, "But I think they don't seek to separate us. " "How's about it?" Dragon, aka Anne piped in. " All for one and one for all?" Deja Iris Wen asked. And the resounding chorus could be heard down the hall; "One for all, all for one!"